Sven-Goran Eriksson revelling in his 'biggest challenge' at Notts County

On Saturday, Sven-Goran Eriksson, the metropolitan manager who defined his
career in Rome, London and Manchester, will make the journey from his
windowless office in Meadow Lane, the Notts County ground, to Barnet.

Svengali: Notts County director of football Sven-Goran Eriksson insists his move to Meadow Lane is motivated by the challenge, not moneyPhoto: PA

By Sandy Macaskill

6:04PM BST 27 Aug 2009

He will sit in the stands as the League Two side's director of football, a position which he airily describes as "being in charge of whatever regarding the football."

It has been some transition for the former England and Manchester City manager, a 'fall from grace', as some have described it, and one which five weeks on from the day he signed a five-year contract at a club who last season finished 19th in the fourth tier, few can get their head around. Naturally, the common assumption is that his motivation is financial.

Eriksson is used to being labelled as mercenary, but the Swede once again shrugs off any suggestion that he is motivated by money.

He moved to Nottingham, he explains, because if he should succeed in taking the club to the Premier League, it will be his biggest achievement in the game.

"I earn money, of course I do, but if it was only about money, I would be somewhere where I could earn much more," he says. "There are always offers. Always.

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I couldn't care if people thought I'm here for that. If we are successful as a team, then it is the biggest achievement you can do in football. It is a bigger challenge than anything else."

Fifteen months ago, Eriksson was sitting in a karaoke bar in downtown Bangkok, on a post-season tour of the Far East with his Manchester City players, knowing that he would be replaced on his return to England.

Having hogged the microphone for most of the evening, Thaksin Shinawatra, the City owner, had paused, and dedicated the next song to his manager, watching from a few feet away. The song? The Clash's Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Undaunted, Eriksson went straight back to work, but he was no luckier in Mexico, lasting less than a year in charge of the national team. Although offers came in from around Europe, there were none from the Premier League.

It was in this context that he was approached about taking the oldest football league club to the top. "Athole [Still, his agent] phoned me and suggested Notts County. I said 'no'."

Unsurprisingly, League Two did not excite the former England manager. Yet Still persisted, and persuaded Eriksson to fly from Sweden to meet club representatives at the Dorchester Hotel in London.

It is surprising, given the nature of some of his previous employers, that Eriksson did not insist on meeting the owners in person, and he admits that now he probably never will.

"This is different, though," he says. "Sitting with their representatives, they said, 'We don't understand football. That is why we've invited you here.

You can take whatever decisions you want regarding football at the club.' I'd never met an owner who said that they don't understand football before. They usually all think they are managers."

It was good enough for Eriksson, and he moved to Nottingham, where he now rents an apartment, to prove this is no passing fancy.

Even though he insists that money was never the incentive on a personal level, it is clear that without the deep pockets of the club's backers, Munto Finance, he would never have even considered taking the role.

"The owners have made it clear the money will be there, otherwise I would never have accepted the job."

What he and Ian McParland, the manager, can do with the money at this point, however, has limits. It is the possibilities which excite him.

"We cannot go out and buy Kaka and Robinho today," Eriksson teases, "but when we are up there, everything is possible."

Even now, they are happy to spend. County paid £1.5 million for Kasper Schmeichel, and astonishingly have signed Sol Campbell, the former Arsenal, Tottenham and Portsmouth defender, on a five-year deal worth a reported £10 million.

Campbell's arrival provides a revealing insight into Eriksson's role. As we are speaking, Campbell is just a few doors down, thrashing out the contract that will see him become the new ownership's highest-profile signing. Eriksson doesn't get involved.

"I don't deal with the money, I am not very good at it," he explains. "I asked the manager if he liked the idea of having Sol, and he said yes. I then had to present the idea to the player."

It took him three weeks, calling the defender every day - when he first rang, Campbell thought it was a prank - but the 34 year-old joined on Monday night. It might not be the kind of mega-bucks signing he made at City, but Eriksson still gets a buzz from it. "This is a big one," he grinned.

Which, of course, prompts the question: were he to be offered a managerial job at a bigger club, with more immediate returns, would the 61 year-old take it?

"I am not fed up with management, and sometimes I do miss it," he answers. "But I have done that for 30 years, every day. In five years' time I will be 66, and maybe it will be difficult for me to have a job as a manager.